1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in the attachment of towed vehicles to towing vehicles, and more particularly, to an improved trailer hitch which allows misalignment of a towing vehicle with respect to a vehicle to be towed as the vehicles are being coupled together.
Trailer hitches typically have a hitch ball mounted on a hitch bar rigidly secured to a towing vehicle. This ball is adapted to be coupled to the socket on the tongue of a vehicle or trailer to be towed. Generally, with trailer hitch assemblies of this type, the towing vehicle must be moved in reverse with the ball properly aligned with the trailer socket to make the necessary connection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Attempts have been made to solve a misalignment problem when the socket of a vehicle to be towed is not properly aligned with the ball of the towing vehicle when the latter is moving in reverse. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,860,267 and 4,350,362 disclose trailer hitches having singable bars which pivot in a horizontal plane to accommodate such misalignment between a towing vehicle and a trailer. However, both patents show a one-piece bar movable out of a bar-like housing, but such construction does not allow the user to pivot the bar until the bar is completely out of the housing. This is the main drawback of the trailer hitch of U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,267.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,362 shows a slightly different trailer hitch in that it does not have a long, slender housing for supporting the main hitch bar. The hitch bar of U. S. Pat. No. 4,350,362 has the same drawback as U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,267 in that it has a hitch bar which cannot pivot about a vertical axis until the full length of the hitch bar is pulled outwardly from its retracted position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,957 shows a typical wide-range hitch assembly which mounts on the towing vehicle generally underneath and protrudes as little as possible beyond the bumper of the vehicle. The advantage of placing the hitch under the vehicle to avoid protrusion of the ball far beyond the rear bumper is offset by the reduced lateral maneuverability or movement of the ball and extendibility beyond the bumper to accommodate a wide-range misalignment between the towing vehicle and the trailer.